Monday, May 30, 2016

Gay Men, Who Say They're Dogs, Demand Acceptance

The sexual revolutionaries, who got their same-sex "marriage" and now are demanding open restrooms and showers for "all genders," are flexing their political muscle further by pushing their bondage/dominance and sadomasochistic (BDSM) bent.

“. . . you’d think it was a few people dressing up as dogs behind closed doors. But the more we researched it, the more surprised I was to learn how large the community was in the U.K. They’ve got their own social networking sites, events and competitions.”-- Guy Simmonds, director of documentary “The Secret Lives Of Human Pets”“It feels like you can be gay, straight, bisexual, trans and be accepted. All I want is for the pup community to be accepted in the same way.”-- Tom, aka Spot (the dog)

What motivates this hidden society to dress up as dogs? Simmonds says he came across a “broad church of people from all walks of life” who turned to “puppy play” for different reasons. “We’ve come across librarians, security guards, even CEOs of huge corporations who wanted to remain anonymous. There are gay, straight, transsexual, aesexual pups.”

London-based psychotherapist Wendy Bristow says it is not uncommon for those who have experienced childhood trauma, for example, to seek comfort in forms of escapism in later life. She points to cases of paraphilic infantilism, or “child’s play,” in which adults seek comfort by regressing back to being a baby. Both babies and pets are considered vulnerable and require nurturing, something role-players with troubled pasts may find soothing.

Puppy play is just one form of a larger phenomenon known as “pet play,” which is commonly associated with sexual acts like bondage, dominance and submission, and sadomasochism. However, pet play and BDSM are not mutually exclusive. . . .

It’s easy to laugh at a grown man in a rubber dog suit chewing on a squeaky toy. Maybe too easy, in fact, because to laugh is to dismiss it, denigrate it – ignore the fact that many of us have found comfort and joy in pretending to be animals at some point in our lives.

. . . puppy play is about more than just outfits and surface-level power games: it’s about being given licence to behave in a way that feels natural, even primal. . . .

The psychiatrist Carl Jung argued that our conscious minds contain intuitive, emotional, sensation and thinking archetypes. Are the sort of men drawn to puppy play simply exploring their intuitive self? “Absolutely,” says David. “Puppy play is exactly that – play. There is an immense amount of pleasure from gambolling around in a club playing with squeaky toys because you’re making people laugh, you’re being a cute little puppy. The gay scene can be very serious, scary and offputting. But if you’re going in with a little puppy hood, ears and a tongue, you look cute. You’re allowed to bound around and be enthusiastic, mischievous and friendly.”